OCC Baseball Notebook: Pirates’ success mounts

FRESNO — Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli led the Pirates to the state final four in his first season in 1993. And while it was hardly beginners’ luck, the former Newport Harbor High standout likely didn’t think it would be so difficult to make it a regular occurrence.

But it took him 12 seasons to return to the California Community College Athletic Assn. state tournament and, after a swift two-and-barbeque elimination in 2005, four seasons passed before the Pirates made it back to Fresno to claim Altobelli’s first state crown in 2009.

But OCC (28-17), which handled San Joaquin Delta (39-6), the No. 1 team in the nation, 5-0, in Saturday’s opening round, has now made it to the final four five times in the last 11 seasons. The Pirates capped an unprecedented 9-0 postseason in 2014 by claiming the program’s fifth state crown, which was followed by a mythical national championship.

Despite losing 12 players from that 36-9 squad to the Division I college ranks, and surviving a stretch in which they lost six of their final eight regular-season games to douse their Orange Empire Conference title hopes, the Pirates are 7-2 in the postseason through Saturday. Further, they twice bounced back from opening-game losses to win best-of-three playoff series to reach Fresno yet again.

Altobelli said the recent run, over just more than a decade, has to do with a string of talented players and assistant coaches. But he also said it was a matter of finally figuring out how to blend the myriad factors involved in massaging a team’s chances at maximum performance.

“Over the years, we have kind of learned the recipe for success,” Altobelli said before a practice last week. “And it has kind of carried over. I’ve learned when to push the guys and when to let them have a day off. I’ve learned how to set practice schedules in the fall to try and give them some energy at the end of the year. By no means are we perfect, but it seems to be working over the last decade or so.

Altobelli said his experience on the big postseason stage has also helped him prepare his constantly shifting personnel be prepared in the championship environment.

“It’s being up in Fresno and all those hard losses, but being there and knowing what it’s about and trying to pass that along to these [players],” Altobelli said. “You try to let them know what they are in for and to help them understand the intensity and the pressure and the fans and everything that is going on. It definitely helps having experience.”

—

•OCC’s opening-game win over Delta on Saturday was the product of a heroic pitching performance by sophomore Dominic Purpura, who threw his first complete game. Also, sophomore catcher Jack Kruger, who was two for two with two walks, one run batted in and one run, led the Pirates’ five-hit attack.

But the Pirates were not without some good fortune, typified by a two-run eighth-inning rally that left Delta players frustrated, particularly pitcher Cameron Leeper.

The inning began when Robert Longtree’s catchable drive to center field was misplayed by the Mustangs outfielder, who broke in, only to retreat too late as the ball sailed over his head and skipped to the wall for a leadoff triple.

A walk and a sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third, and Leeper registered the ninth of his 10 strikeouts for the second out.

Kruger followed with a swinging, spinning dribbler off the plate that appeared ready to spin foul, when charging Delta third baseman Nelson Muniz attempted to bare-hand it and throw to first. But there was clearly no chance to make a play by then, and his ill-fated decision allowed Longtree to score. A subsequent wild pitch later allowed Jeff Nellis to score from third base to up OCC’s lead to 4-0.

—

•OCC’s “Why not us?” mantra also gained justification when it opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the seventh inning without the benefit of a hit.

Through six innings Saturday, OCC had just two hits, which matched its total in opening-game playoff series losses the previous two weekends.

But OCC “exploded” for three hits in the final two frames.

“Yeah, we had a breakout day swinging the bats today,” Altobelli said with a smile. “I was thinking of our struggles [in opening games] the last two weekends [through six innings], thinking we had the first-game blues again. But our guys battled through it.”

—

•Altobelli said he elected to start Purpura for the first time to open a postseason series/tournament, because the one-time reliever is more capable of potentially bouncing back to pitch a second time in the three-day, double-elimination tournament.

But the limited weekend availability of sophomore pitcher Scott Serigstad, who will miss Sunday’s game(s) to attend his sister’s wedding, also played into the decision.

In addition, Delta came in hitting .229 against left-handed pitching, 53 points worse than its average against right-handers.